If you’ve ever wondered how much difference a director and cast can make, then head on down to Costa Mesa to see the magic being made by David Ivers’ and company in South Coast Repertory’s epitome-of-inspired revival of the 1963 Broadway gem She Loves Me.

It helps of course to have great material to work with, like Joe Masteroff’s sparkling book, based on Miklós László’s Parfumerie, which made it to the big screen three times (as The Shop Around The Corner, In The Good Old Summertime, and You’ve Got Mail), and songs as divinely hummable as Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s, worlds apart from Fiddler On The Roof’s “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Sunrise, Sunset” but every bit as memorable.

Masteroff’s Tony-nominated book introduces audiences to Georg Novak (Brian Vaughn), longtime Budapest parfumerie employee circa 1934, and his newly hired shopmate Amalia Balash (Erin Markey), whose instant dislike for each other is the first clue that romantic sparks will eventually flare.

Georg and Amalia have, it turns out, been corresponding anonymously with each other thanks to the 1930s equivalent of match.com and falling more and more infatuated as each new “Dear Friend” letter arrives.

Adding to the She Loves Me magic are shop owner Mr. Maraczek (Gregory North), convinced that Georg is carrying on a secret affair with Mrs. Marackez; lothario Steven Kodaly (Sam Ludwig), who’s been canoodling with curvy coworker Ilona Ritter (Marlene Martinez); Ladislav Sipos (Matthew Henerson), who’s discovered that the best way to keep his job year after year is to never make waves; and Arpad Laszlo (Ricky Abilez), the shop’s teenage delivery boy with dreams of someday joining Georg and Amalia on the sales floor.

Bock and Harnick bonbons include “No More Candy,” out of work salesgirl Amalia’s attempt to snag a job at Maraczek’s by persuading customers that a musical cigarette box is in actuality a musical candy box which will help them keep the pounds off; “A Romantic Atmosphere,” warbled by the harried head waiter of the intimate restaurant where Georg and Amalia plan to meet, “Dear Friend,” sung by Amalia when no happy ending seems in sight, and of course the title song (a ’60s hit for Jack Jones, Vic Damone, and more).

 In other words, Golden Age musicals don’t get more charming or tuneful or romantic or delightful than She Loves Me.

Still, as many times as I’ve seen it revived (most recently in an absolutely smashing Actors Co-op intimate staging), I don’t know if I’ve ever seen She Loves Me directed or performed with so many thoroughly original touches.

Take for instance, Sipos’s “Perspective,” which has the sycophantic clerk describing his teeny-tiny role in the universe, and see how an absolutely brilliant use of props can turn a clever ditty into a showstopper.

And that’s just one teeny-tiny example of how Ivers and cast get inspired by Harnick’s words to add that extra something to songs we’ve heard umpteen times before.

Not that any of this would work nearly as spectacularly as it does without South Coast Rep’s cast of Broadway, regional, and local pros, beginning with its two spectacular stars.

Utah Shakes artistic director Vaughn caps twenty years of performances in Cedar City with as charismatic and winning a South Coast Rep debut as any She Loves Me fan could wish for (and boy can this man sing), and he is matched every step of the way by the utterly luminous, entirely enchanting Mackey, smart and sassy and possessed of one the most glorious sopranos ever.

Ludwig’s ever so handsome Kodaly oozes so much charm, it’s easy to see why Martinez’s bright and bubbly Ilona is smitten; North’s Mr. Maraczek is so gosh-darned cuddly at first that his transformation into ogre is all the more striking; Henerson makes for the most likable of bootlickers; Abilez is the epitome of adorable as the perkiest of knickers-wearing clerks; and all five rock their in-the-spotlight solos.

Among featured ensemble members, Danny Scheie’s easily over-excited Head Waiter may get to chew into the meatiest role, but Alicia Coca, Branden Holzer, Jonathan Kim (Busboy), Robert E. Knight, Marlene Montes, Danny Stiles (Keller), Katy Tang, and Dekontee Tucrkile do their own triple-threat dazzling throughout. (Kudos to director Ivers and casting director Joanne DeNaut, CSA, for a textbook example of diversity.)

Jaclyn Miller’s choreography delights in “A Romantic Atmosphere,” whose tango-meets-Hungarian ballroom moves give the aforementioned performers quite a workout, as does the utter chaos that concludes a show-stopping “Twelve Days Of Christmas,” accompanied throughout by conductor Tom Griep and She Loves Me’s splendid eight-piece orchestra. (Gregg Coffin provides the production’s expert musical direction.)

Scenic designer Jo Winiarski’s indoor-outdoor revolving Maraczek’s set reveals unexpected wonders, Alex Jaeger’s costumes are 1930s stunners, and Jaymi Lee Smith’s vibrant lighting makes both designs look even more fabulous, with Jeff Polunas’s pitch-perfect sound design completing the magical mix.

Jamie A. Tucker is stage manager and Moira Gleason is assistant stage manager. Andy Knight is dramaturg.

South Coast Repertory may do only the occasional full-fledged Broadway musical, but like Sweeney Todd, Once, and The Light In The Piazza before it, She Loves Me makes it abundantly clear that when SCR makes musical theater magic, it simply doesn’t get better than that.

South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.
www.scr.org

–Steven Stanley
February 2, 2020
Photos: Jordan Kubat/SCR

Tags: Jerry Bock, Joe Masteroff, Orange County Theater Review, Sheldon Harnick, South Coast Repertory